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There is an article in the December 09/January 2010 issue of FlyRod & Reel by Ted Williams, pp. 16-21, describing the effects of longlining on the fish and fishing in general in the saltwater regions of the world. The short summary of the entire article is: "Destructive, indiscriminate commercial-fishing gear is wreaking havoc on ocean food chain's that sustain out favorite fish."
Two major statements are highlighted that also summerize other major thoughts of this excellent article.
"Longliners, killing sharks on purpose and by mistake, have knocked most of the larger species down to a fraction of their natual abundance."
"A ban on pelagic longlining in the Gulf would at least postpone commercial extinction of Atlantic bluefin tuna."
No method of commercial fishing is more destructive of marine ecology than longlining. On any given day 100 million baited hooks dangle from giant trotlines in all of the world's oceans. A single mainline (and each vessel tends many sets) may be 6- miles long and drape two thousand 1,200-foot branch lines. Longlines kill sea turtles, sea birds, marine mammals, sharks, billfish, tunas, mahi: in short, any creature that gets tangled in the cord, snagged by the hook or that eats he squid or fish bait.
To actually really understand the effect of commercial longlining if you are an occasional fisherman like me, buying this issue of the magazine, FlyRod & Reel, would be a great investment. If correct, the effects of longlining on fish populations around the world and on the future of recreational fishing and less damaging methods of commercial fishing is devastating.
One example of longlining damaging the ecological balance in the fish world is the effect this method of commercial fishing has starting with the killing of sharks by longliners. Longlining has resulted in the death of tremendous numbers of sharks. After this happened, rays, which are a major dietary item on the shark menu, exploded in numbers, since their predators had been decimated. This might not mean much to you; it didn't to me, until I read further. Rays eat shellfish, and in the Chesapeake Bay, overabundant rays ate 775,000 oysters planted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to aid in filtering the seawater in an area already depleted of shellfish. Rays have to eat, right; so what's the big deal?
The big deal is oysters filter seawater, and if they aren't there to do that proliferation of algae and phytoplankton blocks sunlight from reaching benthic (1 : of, relating to, or occurring at the bottom of a body of water
2 : of, relating to, or occurring in the depths of the ocean), oxygenating vegetation thereby killing gamefish forage and gamefish fry while creating a fertile environment for mycobacteriosis, a devastating disease affecting Atlantic striped bassin their most important nursery area.
A similar problem is occuring worldwide, whether with sharks, rays oysters and striped bass or other fish. Longlining kills every type of marine fish, mammal or reptile that takes the bait, and it kills millions of them! Hundreds of loggerhead turtles are lost, which allows the over proliferation of jellyfish which are very affectinve killers of larval fish.
In our Gulf of Mexico, unless longlining directed at yellowfin tuna and swordfish is banned in spring and summer, the western stock of Atlantic bluefin tuna is likely to become extinct commercially within 5 years. The Gulf is their only known spawning habitat. The longlining bycatch of bluefin tuna in 2007 was 81 metric tins estimated. Longlining in the Gulf of Mexico causes the highest by-catch of blue marlin in the Atlantic, and it is clobbering white marlin.
Buy a copy of the December/January issue of FlyRod & Reel and read this! It is unbelievable!!
Ray
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Harold Ray Emerson
419 Lake Air Drive
Waco, Texas 78710
Phone: 254-772-3520
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